According to a recent report from Bloomberg News, Johnson & Johnson’s orthopedic subsidiary DePuy may be headed for another multi-million dollar settlement offer to resolve nearly 1,000 DePuy ASR hip implant lawsuits. This comes on the tail of $2.4 billion in previous ASR hip implant lawsuit settlements from late last year.

J&J’s previous DePuy hip settlement paid close to 8,000 plaintiffs whose implant failed before Aug. 31, 2013; the new decision, as reported, should settle another 1,000 hip replacement lawsuits that were not included in the first deal. The new DePuy hip settlement is estimated to cost DePuy Orthopaedics about $250 million.

Metal-on-metal (MOM) hip implants can cause a variety of complications. At issue is the design of the implant. When the parts move against one another, they shed microscopic metal fragments into the patient’s body, which can lead to metallosis (blood metal poisoning) and early failure of the hip replacement.

In August 2010, DePuy conducted a recall after data suggested that one of every eight DePuy ASR hips could fail within five years of implantation. Hip implants are meant to last closer to 20 years. The DePuy ASR hip recall affected close to 90,000 implants and thousands of individuals. However, for many plaintiffs, the recall came too late and the damage was done.

Product liability lawsuits began to be filed in the hundreds, then thousands, against MOM hip implant manufacturers. On average, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) receives over a thousand adverse reports annually for hip implant issues, and many of these turn into lawsuits.

More than 10,000 DePuy ASR hip lawsuits were filed before the original settlement was made. For victims whose hip failed before Aug. 31, 2013, and who needed their DePuy ASR hip replaced within six months of the initial surgery, J&J was expected to pay a quarter million dollars to each plaintiff. Moreover, they offered to cover medical costs, taking on the potential for another $1 billion or more in costs to the company. But claims were still coming.

Plaintiffs who had their ASR hip fail after the August 2013 deadline are still filing lawsuits, alleging that DePuy sold a “defective and unreasonably dangerous implant.”

FDA warnings for metal-on-metal hip replacements and guidelines for future testing weren’t released until 2013, however early evidence in hip implant trials infer that DePuy ignored testing recommendations to see if metal-on-metal had shedding issues.

Plaintiffs allege that DePuy knew, or should have known, about the metal poisoning risks, as well as the implications for implant failure.

The new DePuy ASR hip settlement should resolve a number of still-standing claims, but will not end the litigation for DePuy. Lawsuits are expected to continue for those still seeking resolution for more severe injuries, for future injured parties, and for individuals with other manufacturers’ metal-on-metal hip implants.